Survival Does Not Always Mean Killing
by CrazyApplesandOranges
Summary: Cato has been saved, and now he has to work together with Katniss to survive the war. He tries to stay alive, and maybe have a chance at love in the end.
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE THIRD BOOK! Do not read if you have not read Mockingjay. **

Cato moaned as he opened his eyes tiredly. Where was he? The last thing he remembered was begging Katniss to shoot him and end his misery. If he was still alive, then that obviously hadn't happened. What had happened then?

Where was Katniss?

…On second thought, where was the arena? Where the heck was he?

He sat up and winced at the pain in his body. He glanced around and noticed that there was an older woman who was crouching in front of a fire nearby.

She turned and set pale blue eyes on him, making him uncomfortable. Her dark hair was streaked with gray, but she didn't look old. In fact, she looked to be only in her mid-forties.

"Where am I?" Cato croaked. He licked his dry and chapped lips, trying to figure out where he was by his surroundings.

The woman smiled and stood up. She moved with a grace that made Cato wonder what District she had come from.

"You are in the woods outside of District 13," she replied softly. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've gone to hell and back," Cato answered. He groaned as he shifted on the bed he was on. The woman held out a well-manicured hand.

"Stop moving," she commanded. "You just healed, but you will open your wounds if you push it."

"What happened?" Cato inquired, leaning back against the pillows. "And who are you anyways?"

"My name is Nina Serafina. I saved you before the Capitol could get to you."

"What happened to me though?"

Nina smiled a little sadly. "The mutts nearly clawed you to death. Katniss Everdeen was not able to kill you with her arrow, and you just went into a coma."

"How did I get here?"

"I brought you here when I found you. I nursed you back to health, and it took me quite a while. You've been out for nearly a year and a half."

"What?" Cato shot up and instantly regretted it as pain flared up and down his sides. "I've been out for how long?"

"A year and a half. You missed the Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games." Nina walked over to a dresser in the corner of the room, and Cato realized that the entire apartment wasn't very well-furnished. There was the bed, a dresser, and a desk on one side of the room, and on the other there was a door he assumed led to the bathroom and then there was a couch and coffee table.

"What happened? It was the Quarter Quell, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was."

"Well?" Cato was starting to get aggravated at the woman in front of him. "What happened during the Games?"

"Oh, Katniss and Peeta went back in, Peeta got kidnapped, Katniss was brought to District 13, and now there is war going on with the Districts against the Capitol."

Cato blinked. Wow. That had happened all while he was unconscious?

"Actually, now that you're awake, you should go talk to Katniss. She should be up and about at this time," Nina said thoughtfully, reaching into a drawer of the dresser. She pulled out a gray uniform, glancing at something inside before handing it to Cato.

"Why should I go see Katniss?" Cato questioned, frowning angrily. He did not take the outfit.

"Because you need to sort out your feelings for each other before you go fight."

"Who said I had feelings for her?" Cato exploded, jumping out of the bed. "Oh, man, not a good idea," he gasped as his arms wrapped around his torso.

"Told you," Nina muttered, smirking. "And I know these things."

"Fine, I'll go talk to her," Cato snarled, grabbing the uniform from Nina. He pulled it on carefully, wincing as the rough fabric rubbed against his wounds. "Where is she?"

"She should be either in the kitchen area or her room. I can take you there," Nina offered. Cato rolled his eyes.

"How else am I supposed to get there?"

She led him out of the room and into a brightly lit white hallway. He closed his eyes tightly, wishing that it was a little darker, especially because he was still recovering from the fact that he was _alive_.

They walked for a long time, never seeing anyone else. Cato was starting to sweat a little, not used to walking after being still for so long. He honestly didn't know how he was still walking, because the last thing he remembered was the fact that he was being mauled by bear-like dogs and there was barely a scrap of flesh unscathed.

"Here we are," Nina announced, stopping in front of a white door, matching the rest of the white hall. "This is her room."

Before Cato could argue, she knocked loudly on the door. It took a second before Katniss answered it, and when she did it seemed that she was in a bad mood.

"What?" she hissed, before her eyes landed on Cato and she gasped. "W-what are you doing here? You're supposed to be dead!"

"You think I don't know that?" Cato asked, rolling his eyes. Katniss glared at him.

"You know, maybe I should've shot another arrow at you."

Nina pushed the couple away from each other, smiling. "You two have to sort out your differences. I will explain what happened to Cato then."

Katniss grumbled to herself as she stepped to the side to let them in. Cato collapsed on the couch heavily, letting himself show weakness as he tried to recover. Katniss glanced at him, worry shown in her gray eyes briefly before it was covered by the hatred.

"Explain," Katniss said, sitting down on the coffee table. Nina leaned against the wall.

"When I was stumbling through the woods I happened upon the arena. I was able to find Cato, and discovered that he was still alive, barely." Nina tilted her head to the side. "I brought him back to District 13, where I healed him and took care of him until he woke up-today. I knew that he wouldn't understand what was going on, and I knew that you two had some…unfinished business. I brought him here."

"How did you even find my apartment?" Katniss asked, scowling as Cato shifted on the couch. He smirked.

"I have my ways." Nina smiled to herself, looking off into the distance. She shook her head, bringing herself back. "Any questions?"

Cato lifted his head. "What were you doing in the arena?"

"I was on a mission for District 13," she answered.

"How is District 13 even here?" Cato asked, dropping his head. "Wasn't it destroyed when the Capitol blew it up?"

"No." Katniss looked up from staring at her hands. "Remember that video they would show of District 13? They used the same footage over and over again. District 13 was never destroyed. It just moved underground."

"So…" Cato stared up at the ceiling as he tried to take all of this in. "We're in District 13."

"Yes."

"And I'm alive."

"Yes."

"What happened to Peeta then?"

Katniss fell silent, gazing down at the floor. Cato frowned.

"He was kidnapped by the Capitol," Nina replied. "There was a team sent out to retrieve him, but they were not able to. Another will be sent out when we have the men to do so."

Katniss jerked up, and snarled, "We shouldn't be wasting time! We need to get him before the Capitol decides that they don't need him anymore and kill him!"

Nina's kind smiled faded into a grimace. "We can't do anything about that, Katniss. President Coin will not let us risk the men to get Peeta when he might be beyond reach."

"He will not be beyond reach! We can get him back and he'll be fine," Katniss argued, but she was sounding less sure of herself.

Cato sat up and groaned, wondering why he had agreed to move when he was clearly still in need of rest. Katniss glanced over at him and grinned, plopping down in the vacant seat.

"Wait, so what exactly happened in the last Hunger Games?" he asked.

"It was the Quarter Quell. The special thing they did was that they chose from the victors of the Districts," Katniss explained, now gazing at the wall. "Peeta and I went back in, and we made some new…friends, I guess you could say. We were preparing our trap when Johanna Mason cut the tracker from my arm and I was brought to District 13. Peeta was kidnapped and brought to the Capitol. I haven't seen him since."

"Sucks for you," Cato muttered. "Looks like Lover Boy can't love his girl from the Capitol. Poor you."

"Shut up, Cato." Katniss glared at him. "Anyways-"

"What happened after the Games?" Cato interrupted.

"Huh?" Katniss stared at him for several seconds before understanding. "Oh, the Gamemakers called the whole two tributes can win rule off, but we were so 'in love that we couldn't live without each other' that we decided to die with nightlock. They did not agree with that, and they let us both live."

She snorted. "That of course led to uprisings in the Districts and now we're in District 13, where we are fighting a war I feel that we cannot win."

"Okay, I need time to digest all of this." Cato said. "How about I sleep on it and we'll talk later."

He closed his eyes before remembering that Katniss was next to him. He opened his eyes again and stared at her until she looked at him.

"What?"

"Can you move so I can sleep?"

"What?" She turned to stare at him. "This is my couch!"

"So?' He looked down at his body. "I'm injured. I deserve special treatment."

"No you don't."

"Katniss," Nina said gently. "Let him sleep here for the night. He won't be able to make it back to my apartment, and President Coin doesn't know he is awake yet. He doesn't have an apartment of his own."

Katniss sighed and glanced at him one last time before standing up. "Fine," she muttered, stalking over to the dresser. She opened the last drawer and grabbed a blanket, tossing it over the couch to Cato. "Sleep quietly."

He smirked and stretched out, spreading the blanket over his body. He fell into a dreamless sleep very quickly.

A/N: So I just saw the Hunger Games again with Katie, and we became kind of obsessed with CatoKatniss stories. We decided to write one of our own, and this is the product. This is sometime before they get Peeta, I guess. Review?


	2. Chapter 2

Cato lurched upward, eyes wide. Katniss shrieked again, thrashing in her bed. Cato shook his head tiredly and stood up, stumbling over to her bed. He shook her shoulder.

"Katniss," he whispered. She whimpered and started shaking, crying out. "Katniss," he said louder. She didn't open her eyes.

He sat down on the edge of her bed, leaning to get a better angle as he tried to get her awake. She whined and began to cry in her sleep, and he bit his lip. What the heck was she dreaming about?

He shook her even harder, frantically trying to avoid hurting her. She finally opened her eyes, and he breathed out a sigh of relief. But when he looked harder, he saw that there was something in her eyes he never thought he would see-fear.

In all the times he had seen her in the arena, he had never seen fear, not even when she was injured and he chased her up a tree. Yes, he had seen confusion as she tried to grasp the situation, and anger as she looked down at him from her perch. At times there was even a bit of humor in those gray eyes, but rarely.

"Katniss," he murmured. "What's wrong?"

She sobbed and shook her head, still trying to deny that she was crying even though he could see her. When he didn't say anything, she tilted her tear-stained face back to look at him, and she still shook her head, but this time it was out of submission. She had given up denying it.

She collapsed in his arms and he stiffened, but she was still crying and he couldn't push her away, so he adjusted his body so he wouldn't fall off the bed and held her as she sobbed.

Katniss' tears slowly subsided, and they lay there in her bed quietly, neither wanting to move. Neither opened their mouth to talk about what she had dreamed about.

/\/\

The next morning, Katniss was sitting on the couch staring at the floor when Cato woke up. The blanket she had given him was draped around her shoulders, and her eyes were still red from her tears.

Cato stood up and stretched carefully; he didn't want to open any of his wounds. He trudged over to the bathroom and relieved himself, vaguely wondering if Katniss would let him use the shower. He didn't think Nina had given him many showers over the months he was unconscious.

He walked back out into the room, noticing Katniss was still on the couch in the same position. He crouched in front of her worriedly, wondering what was wrong with her.

"You okay, Katniss?" he inquired. She jerked and stared at him, surprised.

"When did you wake up?" she countered. but it lacked her usual bite. She sounded like she could burst into tears at any minute.

"A couple minutes ago," Cato answered softly. "What was up with last night?"

She was quiet for so long Cato almost thought she wasn't going to answer. "I had a nightmare," she finally said. "About the Games. Rue, and Peeta."

"It must have been pretty bad for you to freak out like that," Cato remarked. She lifted her eyes to his.

"Cato, do you realize that I was in the Games twice-in two years?" she asked quietly. He nodded slowly. "Do you know the kind of effect that has on a person?"

"Uhh...no? I didn't win the Games."

"You deserved it, though." Katniss dropped her eyes to the ground. Cato frowned. Had he heard right?

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "If anything, you deserved it more than I did."

"No I didn't," Katniss argued. "You're from District 2, a Career. You should have been able to take me down, and you probably would have if it weren't for Prim."

"Your sister needed you, Katniss," Cato said gently. "If I had known you like Peeta did then I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to kill you."

She barked out a laugh. "Yeah, whatever," she muttered. "When is Nina coming back?"

Cato shrugged, cringing as a cut on his shoulder began to ache. "She didn't say."

Katniss stood and let the blanket fall to the ground. "Come on," she said. "If she's not here by the time we're ready for the day, I'll take you to President Coin myself."

/\/\

President Coin turned out to be an older woman with gray hair and eyes. Cato immediately didn't like her. She looked like she could be an evil grandmother who would promise you cookies before turning right around and throwing the cookies in the river and laughing in your face.

She gestured for Katniss and Cato to sit down for the meeting. Cato honestly didn't want to, but Katniss glared at him, signaling that if he wanted to live he would sit down.

"So, Cato," President Coin said. "You're finally awake, huh?"

"Uhh..." Katniss kicked him in the shin as Coin waited for him to say something, and he had to bite his lip to stifle his yelp of pain. "Yes, I woke up."

"Good, good." Coin paused next to a computer screen and adjusted something before turning back to them. "When can you start fighting?"

"President Coin," Katniss grit her teeth and leveled a glare at the older woman. "Cato needs to recover before he can do any sort of fighting. He has been asleep for nearly two years."

"Oh, yes, of course," Coin said. "You will need to rest for a while. Well, Nina cannot be of any help, as she is on a mission now, but Katniss, you can take care of Cato for the few days Nina is gone, correct?"

Katniss' mouth dropped open. "But, what about my Mockingjay duties?"

"It is okay for you to take a break now and then."

"We're in the middle of a war!"

"And we'll be fine. Katniss, take care of Cato until Nina gets back. That is your new mission. Besides," Coin added under her breath. "You need something to take your mind off that Peeta kid."

Katniss bit back a snarl and Cato dropped a warning hand onto her arm. She glanced at him and he shook his head-it wasn't worth it.

They both stood up and left the room without a further word.

A/N: I realize that some of the details may be wrong, but it's been a while since I've read Mockingjay, and I can't remember all that happens. PLus Katie doesn't have a copy of the book so I can't check anything; I've been finding everything on the Internet, which doesn't actually give me the information I need. Anyways, review?


	3. Chapter 3

"So what exactly are the 'rules' of District 13?" Cato asked as he collapsed on the couch. He stared up at Katniss as she dropped onto the bed angrily.

"You live on a strict schedule," she answered, laying back to stare at the ceiling. "Every morning you stick your arm over in that," she pointed over to the wall, where a small area was slightly darker than the rest of the wall. "And your schedule is printed onto your arm. If you aren't where you need to be at the exact time you need to be there, you are in big trouble."

Cato glanced down at his forearm, where a stark white bandage was covering his wound there.

"You eat exactly three meals a day, exactly what you are given according to age, height, weight, health, etcetera," Katniss continued. "If you are lucky, you might get a bit extra."

"I don't think I like District 13 that much," Cato commented. Katniss shrugged.

"I don't like it that much either," she said. "But it's our only chance of winning this war and getting rid of the Hunger Games for good."

"We could leave Coin," Cato said. "We could gather everyone who doesn't like her and leave. Fight this war on our own, without her ordering our every move."

Katniss sat up and looked at him. She shook her head after a moment. "We could do that," she agreed. "But we would be killed within days. Without the technology we need, we would never survive, and I can only feed so many people with what I can catch from the forest."

"It would be enough," Cato argued. "We could take some technology little by little, you could get enough arrows and a couple bows, and we would be able to leave."

"Cato, I don't know-"

"We can do it, Katniss." Cato stood up and walked over to her bed, where he crouched down to look in her eyes. "We just have to prepare."

She thought for a long time, staring down at the ground by his feet. "Fine," she whispered. "We can try. But when it fails, you can't come crying to me."

Cato smirked and stood up again, striding back over to the couch he had officially claimed as his own. He stretched out and sighed, going over his plan again.

He didn't think it was that bad of a plan. He got to be with Katniss, and he didn't have to live with Coin and her strict rules.

/\/\

"Did you know," Katniss said hours later. "That Coin has a son?"

Cato bolted upright. "She has a _what_?"

"A son," Katniss repeated, also sitting up from her position on the ground in front of Cato. At some point she had moved so that they could talk easier. Cato didn't remember when. "His name is Caine. He doesn't act like her at all. In fact, it seems like she actually hates him."

"Really?" Cato tried to wrap his mind around that. Even his own mother wasn't that bad, and she was a horribly vicious drunk who hated everyone. At least she sent him a present for his birthday every year from the Capitol.

"Yeah," Katniss nodded. "Hard to believe, right?"

"Who is his dad?"

"Haymitch."

Cato stood up in his shock. "Are you _kidding _me?"

"No. I don't understand it either, but he even admitted it." Katniss shrugged. "Maybe he was just really drunk."

Cato shook his head and sat back down. "How is that even possible?"

"Well, when a man and woman-"

"Hell no!" Cato jumped to his feet again. "I already know that!"

Katniss smiled. "Well, that's good. I don't have to explain that then."

"Anyways," Cato muttered. "You were saying something about Prim before you randomly said that."

"Oh, yeah," Katniss smiled again. "Prim has always had this weird thing for animals."

"That isn't so weird," Cato frowned. "I used to have a dog."

"No, it's weird because it's only animals no one else wants. Her cat is mangled and hates me, and her goat was going to the butcher when I bought her."

"Okay, yeah, that is kind of weird," Cato agreed. "But I saw your sister during the Reaping. She seemed really nice and sweet."

"She is," Katniss said, smiling softly. "You remember Rue? They could have been twins, they were so much alike."

"Rue was nice," Cato mused. "I didn't know her that well, and now that I think about it, Marvel killed her, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he did," Katniss said quietly, grimacing. "I killed him, though, so all in all..."

"I'm sorry," Cato whispered. "For everything I did to you in the Arena."

Katniss looked up at his face and gave a watery smile. "I forgive you. Honestly, I did a long time ago."

"Thank you," he said.

/\/\

Coin grumbled to herself as she glared at the computer screen. How dare they think they would be able to run away?

It was a good thing she had planted those hidden cameras in Katniss' room, or else they would have probably succeeded. And that would not have been good.

Caine glanced up at his mother as she paced the room. He grinned, having heard the entire conversation. His plan to get away from the insanity that was his mother was in full swing.

Coin gazed at another brightly lit computer screen, her fingers tapping at the keyboard lightly. She smirked as she finsished the command to all her loyal soldiers.

_WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT LET KATNISS EVERDEEN AND CATO MATWIX OUT OF YOUR SIGHT._

A/N: We're trying to finish this story before I leave Katie's house, so expect a lot of updates the next few hours.


	4. Chapter 4

Caine crept into the apartment carefully, closing the door and blocking the bright light so he wouldn't wake the two occupants of the bed.

He tiptoed to the bed, studying the two figures. One was slightly taller than the other and his body was curled towards the other protectively. One arm was draped across her waist and the girl's body was pressed close to her companion's.

Caine shook the boy awake first, smirking dangerously as blue-green eyes opened and stared at him in shock. He pressed a finger to his lips, signaling for him to be silent. He then crossed the room to reach the girl and woke her up gently, smiling softly at her confused expression.

"Caine?" she whispered questioningly. He nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to get you two out."

"What?"

Cato sat up and smirked. "You're breaking us out? The son of President Coin?"

"Yep. Now get up before the cameras catch us."

"Cameras?" Katniss jumped out of bed. "Where?"

"Everywhere."

Cato stood up and pulled on a shirt. "Okay, let's do this!"

He stopped and thought for a moment. "What do we need for this?"

"I've already got everything we need," Caine said. "Earlier today I sent out a few people and they scouted out the area. A few days ago we found a good place to make our base."

"Sweet," Cato said, pulling on his jacket. "I'm ready."

Katniss was still sitting in bed, staring around the room, no doubt looking for the cameras. Cato crouched in front of her.

"Come on, Katniss," he said softly. She stood up mechanically and went through the motions of getting ready and packing.

"Prim," she said suddenly. "Where is Prim?"

"Prim is coming with us," Caine said gently. "So is your mother, Finnick, Beetee, Gale..."

Katniss sagged with relief. Cato smiled and gestured for her to get moving.

They followed Caine over to the window. "What are you doing?" Katniss wondered.

Caine smirked. "We obviously can't go through the hallways. My mother would surely find out and stop us."

"So we're going through the window," Cato clarified.

"Yes."

"Okay, then."

Caine pushed open the window, sticking his head out. He studied the ground carefully, searching for anyone. He pulled his head back in and smiled, before swinging his legs out and gripping the grass. He crawled out with little difficulty, then turned his head side to side to watch for any one.

He gave them a thumbs up before sprinting away for the cover of the trees.

Cato turned to Katniss and said, "Ladies first."

Katniss rolled her eyes. "Give me a boost," she muttered. Cato smirked.

"Okay."

He crouched down and pushed Katniss up, as she was too short to reach the small window on her own. She slithered out the window carefully, sliding against the damp green grass.

She slipped around to help pull the much heavier Cato up, then quietly darted across the grass to stand next to Caine. Cato followed quickly.

"Now where do we go?" Katniss asked. She stretched slightly.

"I sent everyone about two miles away from here. There we will regroup and start on the way to our new base," Caine said. Katniss nodded.

They started walking, quickly and silently. Katniss was the quietest of all of them, stepping lightly to avoid making noise.

Cato was about ready to scream by the time they reached their destination. He had been too quiet for too long and he _did not _like it.

Katniss didn't seem much better; she had realized that they were getting closer and closer to her comrades and sister, and she was having trouble staying quiet enough.

When they arrived in the small clearing everyone was gathered in, Katniss cried out weakly at the sight of her sister. Prim smiled and ran at her, hugging her tightly.

Cato moved to stand next to Finnick, who was gazing out into the woods with a blank expression. They said nothing, just watched as Katniss had her reunion with her friends.

"How are you alive?" Finnick breathed, his lips barely moving. Even a couple miles away from District 13 they did not trust that Coin wouldn't realize something was wrong and come after them.

"Very long story," Cato whispered back.

Caine gestured for everyone to step closer to him in a half circle, saying, "Okay, everyone, we have to start moving immediately. My mother will surely have noticed our absences by now, and will have sent out men."

"Where are we even going?" Finnick asked. Cato noticed that he hadn't moved from his position by the tree.

"A couple days from here there is a great place for us to make our base. As long as we take short breaks and move quickly, we'll be there within five days-at the most," Caine answered.

Katniss glanced back towards District 13, where President Coin was no doubt sending out a team of men and women to search for and bring them back. Then she followed Cato and everyone else through the woods and to their new home.

/\/\

Peeta screamed, memories running through his brain, confusing him. What was real? What wasn't?

The Capitol men grinned viciously around him, holding their needles and gripping his arms.

He was close to passing out from the pain, and he probably would have if one thought hadn't kept him conscious.

He had to kill Katniss Everdeen.

A/N: Review please!


	5. Chapter 5

They walked for days. There was little conversation, except for a quiet comment here and there about where they were and how far they had to go. Cato was itching to go and kill something, whether it be a Capitol citizen or an animal. He just _needed_ to use _energy_.

Caine stopped in a small clearing and looked around, glancing down at a paper map before nodding to himself. "We're almost there," he announced to the rest of them. They smiled, following as he tilted the map to the side and walked to the right, stopping again and nodding towards a cave.

"Here we are," he said, smirking. "Home sweet home."

Katniss shivered as she stared at the cave, memories of her first Hunger Games and staying with Peeta in a similar cave haunting her. Cato glanced at her worriedly before shrugging it off, trailing behind Finnick as they hurried into the cave.

Once inside, Cato realized that the cave was not as small as it seemed. There were paths branching off from the main cavern, leading to who-knows-where, and to make it seem a bit more home-like, there were rugs sprawled over the ground, paintings on the walls, anything that would make it seem less cold and uninviting.

Cato tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling, noticing that it had been covered with a white sheet to hide the depressing gray of the stone. He stared back around the main cavern, then asked, "Where are we sleeping?"

Caine pointed to the second path. "That leads to all the living areas. The first is training facilities, and the last two are technology or weapons rooms. Mixed in are other, less important rooms, but that's the gist of it."

Cato cocked his head to the side. "So how do we know which room is ours?"

"They're not rooms," Caine said. "Apartments. And the few guys I was able to get from 13 will help you get around until you know the place."

"How long have you actually known about this place?" Katniss asked, crossing her arms over her chest. "There is no way you could prepare this in the short time it took to get us here."

Caine shrugged. "Let's just say I've been planning on leaving my mother's side for a long time."

Then he turned to the path farthest to the left, shouting, "Ethan! Amanda!"

A man and woman emerged, shaking their heads to dislodge the sawdust from their hair. The two smiled at the confused rebels.

"Amanda," Caine said. "Show everyone to their rooms. Ethan, run down to the cook and tell her to start making dinner."

Ethan nodded and jogged away. Amanda waved to them, and Cato studied the girl as she led them down the path. They way she swallowed…

When he looked at Katniss he could tell she had come to the same conclusion he had.

Amanda stopped after a silent three minutes – Cato was counting – and pointed to Finnick, then the door they had stopped in front of.

"Mine?" Finnick guessed. She nodded. He pushed open the door, but before Cato could see inside, Amanda was herding them down the hall to the next room.

Katniss' family and Cato were last on the list, yet they still couldn't see the end of the cave. Cato wondered how far back the cave went.

His apartment was bigger than Nina's had been, and Katniss'. There was a bathroom, plus a separate bedroom. The front half of the apartment was dedicated to the living room and small kitchen, and Cato felt like he was back home, even if District 2 was hundreds of miles away.

He dropped onto the couch, staring at the wall, until a knock on the door interrupted him. He called out for whoever it was to come in, and Katniss sat down across from him. She smiled.

"Your place is nice," she said conversationally. He stared at her.

"How do you do it?" he finally asked.

"Huh?" She blinked at his abrupt change of the subject.

"How do you live through every day knowing that you killed someone?"

She sighed. "I don't really. Every night I dream about the tributes I murdered, even though it wasn't many." She looked up. "For the longest time I thought you were one of them."

He didn't answer, gazing down at his clenched hands on top of his District 13 pants. Thinking of all the lives he had taken, all because he was trying to deny that Katniss was going to win, and that he had no chance. Because what was he against the District 12 girl, who volunteered to save her sister, who earned an 11 in training?

Nothing.

He was nothing.

He should have just given up the minute he brought down the first few tributes. But he couldn't, because his dad and his two sisters were watching, wishing that he would come home. Even though deep down they knew there was almost no chance of Cato winning the Games and being allowed to come home.

Cato sighed, relaxing his hands. He looked up, trying to remember his younger sisters' sweet, innocent faces. Too young to be put in the Games, too young to know the true horrors of life.

Carni's blonde hair always hanging down her back, no matter how many times Cato tried to braid it out of her face. Serena's sea-green eyes gazing up at him tearfully, begging him to stop by the market on their way home from school.

He sucked in a breath as he thought of his father, clapping him on the back, congratulating him on being picked for the Games. Trying to ignore the scent of alcohol on his father's breath as he said goodbye.

He stood up, gesturing for Katniss to follow him. He needed to talk to Caine, to see what had happened to his sisters'.

They nearly got lost on their way to the dining room, where Caine was sure to be. They both stopped when they saw who was with him, however, and Katniss gripped Cato's arm tightly.

"Haymitch," she breathed, and her mentor looked up and smirked.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said. "Long time no see."

A/N: Next chapter! I never would have thought you people would like this story so much as you do. And we get to see a little more about Cato's home life. Anyways, review?


End file.
